CLOUD COMPUTING ESSENTIALS

Cloud computing is being acclaimed as the penultimate solution to the problems of uncertain traffic spikes, computing overloads, and potentially expensive investments in hardware for data processing and backups. A cloud consumer when purchasing access to a hardware platform does not have access to actual dedicated hardware, but to a virtual platform. Cloud computing includes a number of implementations based on the services they provide, from application service provisioning to grid and utility computing. Cloud computing resources are heterogeneous, varying from software services to data storage, to operating systems and hardware infrastructure. The most fine-grained delivery model is when cloud consumers access third-party software via the Internet. The way cloud services are deployed might vary according to the ownership of the service, the size of the cloud resources, and the restrictions to client access. Cloud computing is a relatively new business model for outsourced services.